10 CGI Fails That Totally Ruined Recent Movies

Though general audiences have responded with mild enthusiasm for the big-screen adaptation of Naughty Dog's hit video game Uncharted, the reception from fans of the games and critics has been considerably more mixed.

While on paper it might seem un-screwupable to adapt a game to the big screen that was itself so indebted to classic action-adventure movies like Indiana Jones, it's actually not quite so simple.

Even beyond the questionable script, mediocre performances, and lackluster direction, Uncharted is ultimately hamstrung by its frequently garish CGI.

Right from the opening in medias res sequence in which we glimpse Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) scrambling his way up a cargo plane's perilously hanging luggage, there's an offputting, ugly blurriness to the effects.

Never once are we convinced we're watching anything other than Tom Holland on a green screen set that's been keyed into a generic action movie backdrop. Ironically it looks less like live-action than, well, a video game.

Part of the problem is that Uncharted has a budget that's not quite big enough - though Sony were in many ways sensible to make it for "only" $120 million and reduce their financial exposure, the trade-off is that so many of the effects shots look absolutely hideous.

The flying pirate ship finale fares somewhat better, for sure, but overall it's unfortunate that the primary appeal of the movie - the dizzying action sequences - look disappointingly cheap.